Unverified Voracity Hires Wisely

Talking. Myself on Sports Bloggers Live yesterday. Firefox-incompatible.

No mo' Morris. Freshman wing K'len Morris will undergo shoulder surgery, miss the rest of the season, and apply for a medical redshirt. He should get one, as he appeared in only seven games -- NCAA guidelines state a player has to appear in 20% or fewer of his team's games. Michigan should clear its 35th in the Big Ten Tournament.

Bye, bye Kerry. Michigan recruitniks are probably familiar with Cincinnati Colerain, the southern Ohio powerhouse that's given Michigan the services of Cobrani Mixon (redshirted) and Mister Simpson (redshirted, then transferred to Cinci) over the past two years. Their coach, Kerry Coombs, has just been hired by new Bearcats coach Brian Kelly to coach defensive backs. This is good and bad. Coombs brought his entire team to the Michigan camp every year and often gave Michigan a shot at his top players. That's unlikely to continue. But Coombs may prove a thorn in Ohio State's side when it comes to the Cincinnati area. Respected Buckeyeplanet insider Honor & Glory says that he expects top-100 safety recruit Eugene Clifford to follow his coach:

Coombs has not taken the job...yet. If he does, I fully expect Clifford to de-commit and follow his h.s. coach to UC. I also would lay even money that Ben Martin heads to UC...

Martin, also a Cincinnati kid, is a defensive end who the #1 prospect in Ohio. He's reportedly choosing between OSU and ND.

No one paid UC's move to the Big East much mind when it happened, as the new conference looked like Conference USA with a BCS bid, but with the emergence of Louisville and WVU into quasi-national powers, Schiano driving Rutgers to unprecedented heights, and a promising upstart in South Florida, the Big East suddenly looks very legit indeed. For the first time in its history OSU may have to fight an instate school for prestige and recruits, and while this would be a strictly little-brother scenario similar to the Michigan-MSU dynamic, sometimes little brother is annoying. TJ Duckett and Charles Rogers come to mind.

Jimmah! I don't want to pretend this is conclusive, but Clausen's Oaks Christian team won their state championship 27-20 in OT. Jimmah's contribution was three interceptions, 94 passing yards, and some mildly bad behavior:

The only real pregame noise came from Clausen, who ran to midfield and pointed and shouted at the Cardinal Newman kids before the opening kickoff.

The kid has a swagger. The kid also has a quick trigger, throwing a bullet 17-yard pass to Marshall Jones for a touchdown on the game's first possession.

But the kid also is impatient. Cardinal Newman dropped eight guys off the line of scrimmage, and forced him to find an opening, and he couldn't.

And the kid has a temper, as we saw when he scolded receivers for not catching some of his high-and-wide passes.

More fuel for the theory that Clausen is virtually untested heading to Notre Dame and is extremely likely to disappoint. Bullets:

• He plays on an all-star team at a tiny private school; his opponents are likewise tiny.
• He's 19 already.
• His parents are crazy and have raised him to quarterback.
• Emu.

So no one really knows how he'll react under pressure or when there are players within 10 yards of his receivers. As an overage kid who's been coached since six, he's closer to his ceiling than anyone else entering college. All we really know is that Clausen throws a beautiful ball in 7-on-7 passing drills and gets really bad advice about his hair. Powlus redux? (Please remember that Powlus wasn't awful, but he wasn't any better than average, either.)

Etc.:Interesting article on this Chuck Neinas guy, a coaching headhunter. Rakes has some season awards to hand out. You might recognize something. Rose Bowl thing from MSNBC. Apparently our offense is a lot like USC's. You are reading the fourth most important thing in the universe*.

*(of blogging**)
**(college football blogging)